Time Warp
by YoungestThunderbird
Summary: Interconnected drabbles detailing the chaos that occurs when time travelers collide with each other.
1. Chapter 1

Padmé woke up in a soft bed; surprising since she last remembered was laying in a hospital bed on Polis Massa. She sat up- and froze. This was her bedroom in the Palace at Theed. This was the Queen's bedroom, and she hadn't slept in here for years. A handmaiden entered the door, and bowed. She remembered going to bed the previous night, but she also remembered giving birth. Where where her children?!

...

Anakin woke up in a bunk, and he hit his head sitting up to look around. He shouldn't be in a bunk- he should be dead. Dead in the back of a shuttle piloted by his son. A closer look revealed that this was his bedroom in the Jedi Temple, which he destroyed. But he also remembered going to sleep the previous night... He needed his light saber.

...

Obi-wan woke as he fell out of his bunk, jerking away from the light saber blade he had seen swinging toward him. He hadn't been able to stand still anymore as he felt the heat of the saber. He looked around and saw that he was in his old quarters at the Jedi Temple. The destroyed Temple. That was odd. He heard someone banging around in the next room, and decided to investigate.

...

Ahaoka Tano woke, in the younglings's quarters. She was confused, but when old Master Brentil rounded the corner to wake everyone up, she got out of bed regardless. She didn't care that she was actually in her forties, a padawan who had seen the Clone Wars, and an experienced spacer; when Master Brentil told you to do something, you did it. She only registered that she was about two feet shorter when she hopped out of her bunk and almost fell onto the floor. That was when things got weird.

...

Siri Tachi woke up in the apartment that she had been assigned when she first became a knight. She blinked at the one-room apartment, confused. She hadn't been here since she had taken Ferus as a Padawan. The last thing she remembered was an odd duality; going to sleep he previous night, and laying in a crashed ship. She decided to step outside and look around.

...

Ferus Olin woke up in the initiate's quarters. Considering he last remembered being struck down by Darth Vader, he was nonplussed. Add in the fact that he also remembered going to bed the night before, he had a headache. He needed to find out what was going on.

...

Bant woke up in the healer's quarters. She gasped and sat up, ready to run to the aid of the younglings, but she stopped when she saw the room. It was clean. There was no smell of smoke or bodies. The only noises were the breathing of the patients in the ward down the hall. What had happened?

...

Quinlan Vos woke up upside down in his knight quarters. He looked around and ascertained that the cause of his upside-downness was a rope tied to his ankles. Well, that taught him to do that particular exercise late at night. However, since he also remembered being disintegrated by that weird moon, he had a conundrum.

...

Rex jerked awake. He last remembered being shot at by some rebels. He must have been hit, and taken to the medbay. But he felt fine, if weird. He sat up, and noticed that he was tiny. And on Kamino. What the kriff?

...

Cody woke up in his barrack. He'd gone to sleep after a long day of fighting for the empire, and was dreading having to get up again. He swung his feet over the side of his bed only to discover that he had diminished about four feet and that this particular barrack was the one on Kamino. And he was approximately four. What the kriff?

...

Palpatine, in the Chancellor's office, shuddered as the force shifted. Something big had changed.


	2. Chapter 2

Stars

... Signifies change in pov

••• signifies scene break

 _Signifies thoughts_

Padme walked through the palace, concealing her fear and worry. Everyone was greeting her as if she was still queen, but that wasn't the strangest thing. She had looked in the mirror, and the woman who looked back at her couldn't have been more an twenty. She felt no pain, and when she poked at the corner of her mind that Anakin occupied, she felt love... Tempered with confusion, but still love, not the hate that she last felt. She arrived at the throne room, sat down to give audience to her people, and privately wondered what had happened.

•••

Anakin stumbled out of his room, and into something that looked exactly like his apartment that he shared with his Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He gave a brief grimace at the dishes in the sink (neither of them had liked to do them) and started looking around, looking around for the minute details that no one could duplicate exactly. He had already seen his face, and his body; he was padawan age again, and he didn't even have his hand prosthetic. He checked the cabinet for the secret tea stash his master hid inside an old pepper container, and found it about half full. He checked the minute dip in the wall, hiding the scar from the Lightsaber Juggling Incident, and found it to be the correct depth. He was checking for the glitch in the caf table datapad when he heard a shout behind him.

"Vader!" He turned and saw Obi-wan ( _traitor brother father)_ , with just a hint of fear and guilt on his face, and a lit Lightsaber.

...

Obi-wan had stepped outside his room, into an apartment worryingly similar to the one he had shared with Master Jinn and Anakin. He wandered into the kitchen, and saw the spice cabinet open. He reflexively checked his tea stash- half full, needed to head down to market soon- and turned to face the living room, where he saw his apprentice checking the dent in the wall where he had scored it while trying to juggle his Lightsaber. Ana- Vader was poking it, as if he wasn't sure it was really there. He then nodded, and went over to the coffee table and picked up the battered starfighter datapad he had always kept there. Obi-wan found his voice, and ignited his Lightsaber.

"Vader!" He called. _Vader not Anakin. Vader not Anakin. Anakin is dead. Vader is all that is left._

Vader looked at him almost desperately and lit his sword, putting it in a defensive stance. One that Obi-wan had tought him. Obi-wan did the same, and both men stood there for a moment that seemed like an eternity.

...

Ahsoka had slipped away from the crèche master at first opportunity. She sneaked through the halls- which seemed so much bigger than before- to her master's room. In reality, it was her master's and Master Kenobi's, but to her it was her master's. Her master had never gotten around to moving out of Master Kenobi's quarters, because of how little they were on Coruscant. She usually slept on the couch when on world, but she didn't mind. Her Master and Master Kenobi were quite close, so Master Kenobi was by extension quite close to her. Sometimes it had felt like she had two masters instead of one. She opened the door to find her master (with a Padawan's haircut!) standing in the living room, facing off against Master Kenobi in the kitchen. She didn't like the looks on their faces, like they were scared of the other but unable to flee.

"Masters!" She cried, to try to break the sickening standoff between the two of them. They both turned to her.

"Snips?" Questioned her master, as if he couldn't believe she was there. His eyes were wild, but they were blue.

"Ahsoka, run!" Commanded Master Kenobi. She had never seen him so shaken before.

"Masters, what's going on?" She was nervous, like she never had been outside of battle. She wasn't entirely sure this wasn't a battle. Her master stepped toward her, only for Master Kenobi to almost dive in front of her. Skyguy jerked back, but slowly extinguished his Lightsaber and out his hands up.

"I won't hurt her. I'm not him." He said, slowly, shakily.

"I'm not sure I can believe that." Said Obi-wan. He extinguished his lighsaber anyway, and moved toward a chair to collapse.

"What happened to us?" Ahsoka said, somewhat plaintively, voicing the question that they all were asking.

•••

Siri stepped out into the hall, after checking her apartment. The small amount of mementos collected over her lifetime of missions were mostly there, and her furniture was arranged how she remembered it. She started walking, aimlessly, toward the room of a thousand fountains. That was when she ran into a small initiate traveling at a rather high speed. It took her a minute to realize that he wasn't only running at the top speed for his age, but he was also using the force to augment his speed in a manner that was not taught to the younglings until they became Padawans. She frowned and looked down, only to see the slightly chubby face of one Ferus Olin looking back at her, in a mixture of awe and surprise and maybe a little bit of love.

"Master Tachi?" He inquired, tilting his head in the way that Ferus usually did when he was confused. She couldn't keep herself from smiling.

"Hello, Ferus." Ferus lit up- it was as happy as she had ever seen him.

"You remember me?"

"Of course. I would be a very poor master indeed if I forgot my Padawan, now wouldn't I?

...

Ferus had completed his morning routine with all the meticulousness he'd been known for in his Padawan years and stepped out of the Initiate's quarters. He was still didn't know what was happening, but he knew that this was the Jedi Temple- and not the Temple he had last seen. There was no smoke, no scent of bodies, no dark side of the force. This was Light and Pure and Safe and _Home_. This was perhaps the thing he missed most when he left.

He checked the date on every datapad he could find, but they all gave him the same one. He ran at top speed through the halls, hoping almost against hope to find one person in particular. Of course, he probably would have made a better impression if he hasn't crashed into her at light speed.

"Master Tachi?" He asked. Did she remember?

"Hello, Ferus." _Master master master!_ She did remember! He had to ask again, just to make sure.

"You remember me?" She smiled.

"Of course. I would be a very poor master indeed if I forgot my Padawan, now wouldn't I?" And win that, Ferus did something he had never in his short/long life ever even though about doing before. He gave Siri a hug. After a brief start of surprise, she hugged him back.

"Come, Ferus. Much has happened. Let us converse in my quarters."

•••

Quinlan Vos marched out of his quarters, turned around, and marched back in to put his shirt on. The council got fussy if he didn't walk around fully clothed, even if the media outlets loved it. Perhaps that was why they were fussy. Either way, he decided to set out toward the healer's quarters to check his head. He did that twice weekly, but they hadn't been able to find something wrong with him yet! He strutted into the medcenter waiting room, sat among the Initiates with concussions and Padawans with broken arms, and settled back in the hard plastic chair to wait. After forever (doctors are doctors wherever they are) he heard his name called.

...

Bant had started her day as normally as she was able, what with having that traumatic vision and all. She set up the healing rooms and began to see patients. After Padawan Thurne came in with a broken nose and Initiate Danar left with a lollipop and instructions on how to change his bandages, she sighed and looked at the list to see who she was seeing next.

"Knight Vos" she half sighed. For whatever reason, Quinlan would come in every couple of weeks to have his head checked. She'd gotten quite good at psych evaluations since he became a knight, and still had yet to find anything wrong with him... Personality of a hyper lizard-monkey nonwithstanding. Quin bounced in as usual and took his ordinary position on the patient table- he'd seen too many medical dramas and always insisted that laying on his back was the proper way to talk to his shrink.

"So, Doctor Eerin, I have had the most amazing vision. I lived over the next thirty or so years of my life-"

"Oh thank force it's not just me." She was unable to keep herself from interrupting. He looked at her and gave a quick grin, but his eyes were sad.

"How are we going to stop it?"

•••

Cody had done all of the exercises like the dutiful little soldier he was, and then gone with the rest of his squad to the 'playroom.' The Kaminoans, somehow, had heard that play is a vital way the human brain learned, so they had set up about a dozen rooms with cheap plastic toys and figurines for the future commanders. Cody used to love the small plastic figure of a Mandalorian bounty hunter, with orange and blue armor. He picked it up and dutifully began re-enacting the Battle of Geonosis, or at least something like it. He concentrated on the troop movements and squished the part of his mind that said that this was kids stuff. He was undercover, that was all.

...

Rex walked around the playroom, the way he remembered he had usually done, except now he had a purpose for it. He was looking for anyone acting not entirely normal. For all he knew, this was just Imperial Reconditioning messing with him; Kamino's cloning facilities had been closed for years, not to mention that he was at least forty. He saw the kid who would later become Cody in a corner, playing with that toy Mandalorian he had liked so much. It had gone missing at about the time Cody's squad was considered too old for the playroom. Rex always suspected Cody took it, but could never prove it- not that he really wanted to, it would have gotten Cody in trouble. It ended up being excellent blackmail too. That was when he noticed that Cody had taken some of the even cheaper geneneric solider figures and was arranging them in battle lines... That they hadn't been taught yet. He headed over and plopped beside Cody.

"Geonosis?" Rex asked, casually. Cody almost gave himself whiplash.

"How did you know that?"

"What, you thought you were the only brother having a kriffing weird day?"

•••

Notes:

The timeline is a bit warped for this one... Just look at the title. Padme is still queen; Anakin is Obi-wan's apprentice, but Ferus is not yet Siri's; Quinlan Vos and Bant are a knight and a healer respectively; and Rex and Cody are about four chronologically, which means that they look eight. And everyone thinks like their older selves... Whew.

I am complete mush for Anakin/Padme bonds. And Obi-wan/Anakin bonds, and Obi-wan/Qui-gon bonds...

About Anakin's method of checking the apartment: surely all of you have some sort of unique characteristics that are very hard to duplicate in your living space? You know, little dents in the walls/furniture, stains and folds in the pages of books, maybe little hidden stashes of candy? That's what I'd check in the same situation.

Obi-wan and Anakin may be OOC, but they've both died recently, Obi-wan after being killed by Anakin and Anakin after turning back to the light and seeing his son. They're both a bit shaken at the moment. Ahsoka is not the Rebels Ahsoka; she's just a captain of a cargo ship and has no clue that Anakin is Vader.

Ferus is probably also OOC, but again, he died recently, and he hasn't seen his master in decades after losing her tragically.

Cody and Rex are just nonplussed about the whole thing. And Cody did take the action toy; he couldn't have been more then five mentally when his squad stopped coming to the playroom. Headcanon he named it Clash and kept it through the Clone Wars and even into the Imperial years.


	3. Chapter 3

The reviewers who requested more lit a fire under my rusty dusty to get this next chapter done. Thanks. So, I haven't watched all of the clone wars, nor read hardly any of the EU novels or comics. For Ferus, Siri, Bant, and Quinlan, I am going of faint impressions of an EU book I read when I was ten, Wikipedia, imagination, and a healthy dose of fandom. Also, this was written before Ahsoka or Rex showed up on Star Wars Rebels, so both Cody and Rex served as stormtroopers for the Empire. Ahsoka was a spacer.

... Scene break

pov change

 _Thoughts_

 _..._

Padme had finished hearing requests as Queen, and returned to her chambers to change the elaborate clothing involved. She had managed to ascertain that she had managed to travel through time- it was about six months before her reign ended, and more than six years before the Clone Wars began. And Anakin wasn't fallen, and he was her Anakin, or she was imagining things. She didn't think she was, but then again, she had just dreamt of having children and dying. She probably should think about her sanity. Well, the only way to check was to test the knowledge she had apparently gained. Hmm. Geonosis was too hostile, and she certainly wasn't facing Palaptine alone. She had better check on Kamino. Let's see, what would she say? "A diplomatic visit to check on the Republic's new army... Ensure proper treatment of the clones... Entrusted with this responsibility by the Jedi council... Delete any preprogrammed orders (in the interest of freedom and being rights)"... She could do this.

Now to figure out how to open diplomatic communications. Maybe she should go to Coruscant, check on Anakin and Obiwan, they were the 'Heroes of Naboo' so it wouldn't be too suspicious. They would help her with a reason, if they still remembered. And the anniversary of the battle was coming up in a couple of weeks, she could ostensibly be asking them to attend. Well, she had better tell Captain Panaka of her travel plans, and start making preparations.

...

Anakin was sitting on the sofa in his rooms, and simply staring at his master and his not-yet-padawan. Obiwan still didn't trust him and was watching him warily. Ahsoka seemed to be more scared and confused than anything. He imagined that she had been living for life longer than any of them, peacefully he hoped, he hadn't heard of any Togruta Jedi being executed that matched her description (and he always paid _very_ close attention to female Togruta that were being hunted). Obiwan, he knew he had killed, and that hurt inside his chest like nothing he had ever felt since he had cut Luke's hand off. And, _gods_ , he had probably hurt Ahsoka too, simply because she was non-human. He knew that the Moffs didn't like non-humans, but he hadn't stopped them. _Just another thing to be guilty for._ It was a wonder Obiwan hadn't killed him yet.

Obiwan sat at the chair and looked at Anakin, who truly didn't look like Vader at all. In fact, he looked very much like he was trying to vanish into the floor. Ahsoka nudged his side, and he looked at her. She was very concerned.

"What's with Master?" She whispered. Of course, Anakin heard her anyway.

"I'm not your Master anymore Snips, and I hope you get a better one than me this time."

Ahsoka looked even more concerned, if possible.

"Masters? What's going on?"

"Ahsoka, you don't want to know." Obiwan to tried to say, but she stood up and glared at him. When did she get so intimidating?

"I don't care if you think I need to know, or want to know, _I am going to know_! I want to help, you idiots!" She seemed thoroughly annoyed at their dancing around the subject. She was in her forties, for goodness sake! Anakin finally looked to have worked up his courage.

"I'm Darth Vader." He said, in a normal tone, like he was talking about the weather.

Ahsoka turned to her master. And yes, the extra twenty five years nonwithstanding, she still thought of him as her master.

"What do you mean, 'I'm Vader'? What do you and the cyborg despot have even remotely in common?"

Anakin grimaced, and gave a sort of smile that spoke of years of regret and hate.

"I mean that I spent the last twenty years in a cyborg suit, after killing my wife, my best friend, and every other Jedi, finally culminating in cutting my son's hand off, before being dragged back to the light by that same son. I don't deserve him. I'm surprised I'm still in one piece right now, actually."

Ahsoka looked at him in shock.

"Congratulations, Anakin. You finally managed to get her to not talk back." Obiwan said, and winced. It was surprisingly hard to remember Vader swinging a 'saber at him when Anakin was in front of him.

Ahsoka, on the other hand, began to have a series of horrible suspicions. Senator Amidala died at the opening of the empire, but her family refused autopsy- most thought it was because she was pregnant. But what if it was because she was _no longer_ pregnant? And Anakin and Padme were not near as subtle as they should have been. It was said that Luke Skywalker was hero of the Rebellion, killer of the emperor and Vader- she had put it down to both her master and he being from Tattooine. Luke was Anakin's son? And Anakin was Vader? Good force.

...

Siri led Ferus back to her quarters, calmly walking so as not to arouse suspicion from other Jedi.

"What do you supposed happened, Ferus?" She asked. Ferus always was a bright child, and she still saw him as her padawan, so she asked him questions to help him learn.

"Skywalker went dark side." He said, calmly. "I don't know why. He killed the Jedi, except for about three dozen, mostly Padawans who ran, outcasts from the Order, and undercover Knights."

Siri stopped. "What?"

"He did this under the purview of the Chancellor, who had declared himself emperor and is apparently a Sith Lord. The Republic turned into an Empire. Only a few rebels held out. I don't know how they're doing, I died before the war was decisively finished."

Conversation was cut off as Siri had started back toward her quarters with a shushing motion, opened the door, gracefully invited Ferus in, closed the door, and immediately spun toward him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Details, Ferus. I need details. Anything that can help."

Ferus was surprised by how quickly his master moved after the door was closed. He supposed that he shouldn't have sprung that on her, but it was a fact of life for him. Had been a fact of life. Time travel was confusing.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that it might have something to do with Senator Amidala. She always seemed to get him assigned to her for protection missions, and he never tolerated any disrespect for her. She was pregnant when she was killed in the early days of the empire."

"Senator? I only know of a Queen Amidala."

"She was elected Senator when she ended her term as Queen. I must admit, she was perhaps one of the only senators concerned with interest not themselves."

"And Skywalker was in love with her?"

"I'm fairly sure. Kenobi went to fight with him just after the massacre of the Jedi, but he wasn't able to defeat him. He put him in a cyborg suit for life, though." He ignored how his master's face had changed at the mention of Kenobi. Who was he to lecture on attachment?

"I was part of a rebellion- we gained decent ground, but I don't know if we won." He finished.

"We need to go get Kenobi. He needs to hear this." Siri looked pensive.

"Skywalker is also in that apartment. How do you suppose we get him out?"

"You need a sparring partner, don't you?"

"Oh no..."

...

Bant watched as Quinlan walked out of the Healer's ward, and saw a couple more patients (Padawan Trin, with a sprained knee, and Knight Mosley, a notorious hypochondriac who thought he had Wampa Pox) before finishing her shift. Then, she headed straight for his quarters. She found him drawing a picture of a moon with odd lines all over it. He looked up and saw her, and waved. However, he actually looked serious for once.

"This is the weapon I was killed by, I think. I was on the surface of a planet, and it shot a laser beam toward it. That's the last thing I remember."

"I only remember the clones." Bant said. She did remember the blaster bolts, and how he men that she always thought were kind turned to killers without remorse. Quinlan looked sad.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. You couldn't help me. That's not your fault." Quinlan had gone missing near the beginning of the end of the Republic.

"But now I can. Palaptine was the one who planned all this from the start. If we stop him, we stop everything."

"We should probably get Obiwan. It is his padawan that the Emperor turned after all."

"You get to explain this to him."

"Thanks!" She said, sarcastically.

Quinlan had returned to his quarters earlier to try and gain some balance. He knew he wasn't the most balanced Jedi, he knew that he was to attached to certain people; he just hoped he could make things right. He knew that he had fallen astray last time, so he hoped he would do better. His conversation with Bant was going well, and he hoped to keep her friendship. It would make resisting his Dark easier.

"No, really" he said, "it would sound more credible from you, a healer, than from me, an undercover rogue who has turned to the dark side before."

"We're assuming he remembers anything."

"This is Obiwan, Bant, it's always best to assume he already knows what he needs to and move from there."

...

Rex sat in the classroom where the Kaminoans were teaching them 'all they needed to know to become good soldiers' and let his mind wander. He already knew his letters, he already knew all the tactical maneuvers they taught (plus a few more interesting ones straight from the inventive minds of Genrals Skywalker, Kenobi, Vos, Koon, and Unduli, as well as Commander Tano). He had long ago learned how to maintain his armor, and how to clean and field-strip is weapons; he already found out how to best move in all the types of terrain that the Kaminoans knew of plus some they didn't (who knew there was a planet composed entirely of a mass of non-organic filaments the color and texture of spaghetti). In short, he was bored to tears. He wondered how Cody was doing. He wondered why they had been sent back, it wasn't like a couple of clone troopers could do much.

...

Cody sat in an identical classroom surrounded by identical heads. The only difference what that his classroom had a vidscreen instead of a live teacher that showed the clones things that the Kaminoans couldn't duplicate, such as cultures, planets, weapons, and people. He paid half attention to the presentation on the culture of planets in the Aquaris system and how to function in them, and thought about what he and Rex were doing twenty years in the past. He supposed it was the Force, or some other Jedi thing. What they needed to do, though, that was trickier. Neither he nor Rex was a natural leader for anyone but their brothers. He supposed he could somehow find the control chip in the heads of the clones and turn it off, but other than running around and hitting his brothers on the head, he couldn't see what he could do for that. He supposed the best thing to do was wait until he was assigned to General Kenobi and tell him everything then. He supposed Rex could do the same. Now they just needed to make sure they did nothing different than the first time.


	4. Chapter 4

Echo

You lovely reviewers have inspired another chapter! I'm also taking the 'completed' label off until I finish the story. I honestly only meant this to be a oneshot, you should be ashamed of yourselves inspiring me to do more. Happy reading!

Padmé stood in front of her council, wondering how on earth she managed to get though these meetings the first time when she was actually eighteen. Her legs ached, her dress itched, and her makeup was starting to cake on her face like mud. She consoled herself that it was almost over- only twenty minutes until she could retreat to her inner chambers, sprint to her handmaidens to take off the heavy ceremonial dress, and caper in a must un-queenly manner to the gardens to strategize.

Capering had been one of her few guilty pleasures in her long tenure as Queen. Captain Panaka had called it the Maenad's dance, after the wild handmaidens of the wine god in ancient Nabooan mythology. He had been surprisingly well read... and waiting for her with his arms crossed in the gardens.

"What's wrong, milady?" He asked.

Panaka had known her since she was a small child. He was her personal security guard, and would later follow her to Coruscant to supervise her in her terms as Senator.

"Nothing, captain, why do you ask?" He raised his eyebrow.

"You are acting different, milady. Normally, I would not interfere, but the closest reference I have for this is during the Naboo Invasion. Who's threatening you?"

Well, that was sweet, but very wrong. She supposed that it would have to have happened eventually.

"Captain, what are your thoughts on time travel?"

...

Ahsoka sat and absorbed the knowledge recently imparted. Force, she hadn't used those words in a decade. It must be something in the air in the Jedi Temple. She then got up and hugged her master- Vader or not, he was still her Master- and then hugged Obi-Wan. Anakin stiffened at the touch, and Obi-wan looked bewildered. She quietly muttered a few invectives against the Code; life as a spacer had taught her that hugs, in the words of the tiny Bothan who taught her, "can do anything!", and that attachments aren't always bad. She smiled a bit as she remembered her copilot; the scrappy little Bothan girl had reminded her of the little Togruta padawan called Snips. Her smile turned sad when she realized that Kayli wasn't even born yet.

"Vader or not, Masters, it hasn't happened yet. We can stop it! Right?"

.

Obi-wan smiled at Ahsoka; he was glad she was safe. He had missed the girl when he was alone, but then he had missed everyone when he was alone. He should dwell on other things, he shouldn't go down that road.

Anakin just looked like he didn't know what to do with her, which made sense. He imagined that Darth Vader was not one who was often hugged. It was getting harder and harder to associate the black mask with the confused and wary young man sitting in front of him.

He supposed it was part of the time-travel, this dreamlike separation of future and present.

He looked up as the door emitted a chiming sound. Goodness gracious, it had been twenty years since he heard that noise; but, then again, it had also been a day.

"Come in!" He called. Who could it be?

.

Anakin wasn't sure what to do with all this optimism. A side effect of the Dark side is complete and total crushing of anything resembling hope in the heart of the Sith, and he was unsure how to deal with it anymore. It had been forever since he had last felt that little flutter inside his ribcage, and he was perhaps more scared of it than of Palpatine. Or perhaps that entry-chime. How could he face any Jedi right now? Especially any of Obi-wan's friends, even if they didn't remember. He'd done so much to them, and to his Master; he could barely stand it. He could only wait, and pray it was an orderly, or someone who had gotten lost. Unfortunately, the galaxy hated him.

.

Siri stood outside the door and wondered what they would find after she pressed the chime. It felt nice to have Ferus beside her once again, even though it was odd to see him so short. She had gotten used to him being taller than her. A muffled voice from inside called for her to open the door, and she did, to find the normally spotless apartment... Still pretty spotless, but three cabinets were open, the chairs were out of place, and the tea was out on the counter; for a Jedi apartment, it was in shambles. She was immediately wary, and slightly confused when she saw a tiny Togruta sitting on the coffee table. Ferus was less conflicted.

"Skywalker!" He near bellowed, and tackled the other young apprentice sitting on the chair. Obi-wan shouts, and the little Togruta yells something about protecting her 'skyguy' and joins in the mighty scuffle of two preteen boys rolling around on the floor. Obi-wan just pinches his nose and turns to her.

"I imagine he woke up a bit older this morning?" And isn't that just a typical Obi-wan phrase, mild but meaningful and free to be interpreted twenty different ways. No wonder they called him the Negotiator.

"We both did. We had better break them up." She sighed. She had honestly expected better from her apprentice- who was shouting at the Togruta that didn't she know what Vader had done, why was she protecting him, traitor! Seriously. He had grown out of his anger issues when he was actually twelve.

.

Ferus knew, in the back of his mind, that attacking Vader was wrong. He was unarmed, light saber out of reach on the table, and hitting him wasn't going to accomplish anything except making the both of them madder. A voice in the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like his master reminded that anger was a path to the Dark side, but he was an expert at being mad without going full Dark, and Skywalker simply did not have any farther to fall. It was a surprise when the Togruta Padawan joined in, though. She fought fierce and dirty for someone who looked like she was six. He had Skywalker in a headlock, and the Togruta (Akisa? Askoa?) was using his head as a springboard when they heard the unmistakeable sound of two Jedi masters clearing their throats in tandem. He had the horrible realization that he was still and initiate and as such could quite probably be punished by cleaning the hangars with a toothbrush before he, Skywalker, and the Togruta-Ahsoka!- untangled themselves and prepared to face their masters, or, in the Togruta's case, her grand-master.

However, they were saved by another timely chime of the door.

.

Quinlan and Bant expected many things when they rang Obi's enter-chime. It was safe to say, however, that Obi-wan and Siri looking dire in front of two initiates and a padawan was not one of them. Quinlan recognized the Togruta as Skywalker's padawan, and wasn't that a terrifying thought; the other initiate was Siri's padawan. He thought his name was Olin. The padawan, of course, was Skywalker. Obi looked mildly amused, but with the dangerous undertone that he usually had when his padawan had been misbehaving. Siri was less subtle, openly frowning at the sheepish group.

Quinlan decided to do an experiment and tackled Obi-wan. Now, this would seem like an innocuous expression of his personality to those who knew him before he war, but they had agreed after a disastrous incident with copy-cat Jedi that it would be their set greeting; Quin would tackle and Obi would say something about how uncivilized it was, and work in something about his dreadlocks. Then he would jab him with his elbow to get him off. It looked fairly natural, but was in fact the product of two devious Jedi minds (who had always enjoyed tussling on the floor a bit too much).

"How very uncivilized, Knight Vos. Do get off of me, your dreadlocks are most unappealing when they are on one's face." And there was the jab. Instead of getting off, he sat the both of them up and hugged Obi within an inch of his life.

The padawans were watching interestedly. Siri and Bant were watching tolerantly. Obi-wan was too busy trying to breathe. Siri finally cut in.

"You're going to suffocate him, Quin. Let go." So he did, and turned to Bant.

"He remembers!" He said with a wild grin.

.

Bant had shook her head as Quin launched himself at her friend. Oh well, she supposed, it's Quin. The little exchange was a surprise though, especially since Quin's dreads were nowhere near Obi's face. It must have been a signal, because suddenly Quin was smiling like a maniac and yelling about him remembering. Well, that made things easier- though she couldn't help but notice poor Ani doing his best to shrink back like he expected them to hit him. She couldn't believe that child had gone dark. She crossed over to him and hugged him, and little Ahsoka and Ferus for good measure. Ahsoka hugged back happily while Ferus stiffened. That boy had always been a bit more strict to the code than most.

"What do we do about this?" Questioned Siri, who had been watching Ferus's awkwardness amusedly. Anakin looked up.

"Attack the Chancellor?" He asked. Ferus snorted.

"Only if we want the entire security forces of the Republic hunting rogue Jedi... Again." Anakin cringed and nodded. Ahsoka also tipped her head back in though.

"Contact Kamino?" She suggested. Obi-wan nodded.

"It's the turning point; if the clones do not have Order 66, that killing order," he added for the benefit of Siri and Bant, "the Chancellor will have to manifest his power differently. But how to do that?"

...

Rex was training with his squad on the parade grounds, practicing marksmanship on moving targets. Simultaneously, another squad was practicing avoiding blasterfire by wearing rudimentary armor and dodging his squad's stun blasts. The Kaminoans were very efficient in their training, and never did two activities if one could suffice. After a timer, the squads would switch duties. The squad with the most hits when holding the rifle and the least hits when dodging won. He didn't really concentrate on his marksmanship, though he hit more often than he missed. He really wanted to get word back to his general. He would have an idea what was going on. And he didn't have to kill him on sight now, which was a huge bonus.

.

Cody was crawling in mud in the ever-enduring Kamino rain when it came to him. Rex had contacted him earlier, over a rudimentary comm link allowed the cadet clones, about contacting their generals. Cody did like the idea of not having to shoot his general ever again, but Coriscant was parsecs away. How to do it? Cody finished he obstacle course in record time, causing a graceful eyebrow lift in the Kaminoan supervisor, and beeped out a message to Rex to meet him in a certain 'fresher. He slipped away from his group in the sonic showers and arrived at the meeting point just as Rex did.

"What's your idea?" He asked.

"The Kaminoans have a communication antenna, right? One strong enough to reach Coruscant?"

"Yes..."

"I have just reached the point in my classes where the government of the Republic is explained. Don't you think it's unjust that we have no representation in the Senate?"

"You're suggesting we send a clone senator to Coruscant."

"No, I'm suggesting we stage a 'rebellion' and contact the largest news network in Coruscant we can think of to bring attention to the 'plight of the clones.' Being's rights activists should be all over us if we frame it right... And our generals should notice."

"You're kriffin' nuts."

"You have a better idea?"

"Hijack a ship?"

"The landing pad is heavily guarded."

"Plight of the clones it is."

Notes: remember, Cody and Rex don't know Vader is Anakin. Also, the Jedi have a lot of catching up to do to each other.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites; they're very inspiring.

Padmé supposed it could be worse. She could have been explaining this to Jar-Jar. As things stood, though, Panaka was very skeptical.

"You've been to the future."

"I've lived the future! This is my past!"

"You do realize you sound like you've been keeping some of the more interesting poisons too close to your bed?" It was tradition to keep several poisons in the Queen's room, to try to fight off attackers. It was the same reason there were blasters stored in the throne.

Padmé stomped her foot- a bit childish perhaps, but she was sixteen (and also twenty-seven. That was confusing). She paced for a bit, as Panaka watched her somewhat amusedly, and finally had an idea.

"You're thinking of hiring Verdé Calleda for my handmaidens, right? You like her accuracy with knives." That should have been around this time.

"Yes, I already did, but you haven't met her yet; she hasn't been on Queen rotation- oh."

The queen actually had almost a hundred handmaidens, but only ten were on duty by her side at once; the rest were either training, functioning as extra security for the palace and the representative building, or on vacation. It was tradition for a queen to pick the five handmaidens she was closest to to be her guards upon retirement- every former queen knew too much to be left entirely unguarded.

She smiled at him and quirked her eyebrow playfully. He grimaced back.

"Now, we need to contact a the Jedi temple and let them know I'm visiting Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker-"

"That would be Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker, your majesty."

"See Panaka? You're being helpful already. Also, we need to contact a planet called Kamino, make sure they don't put kill-orders in their clone army-"

"What?"

Unfortunately, it was going much worse in the Jedi temple. The Jedi crowded into the Kenobi-Skywalker dorm were split into three camps: 'blame Sidious, this is all his fault' (Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Anakin); 'blame Anakin, he fell' (Ferus, and Quinlan was perhaps the most in this one); and 'I have no clue what they're talking about, I'm just here for moral support' (Bant, Siri). They were having a spirited discussion (read: argument) about what to do next. However, every good Jedi knows you can't argue - it's inharmonious. Team Blame Sidious wanted go to the archives, research time travel and how to stop Sith, and block as much power as possible from the Chancellor. Commendable. Team Blame Anakin wanted to go to the council, throw Anakin out of the Order, and block as much power as possible from the Chancellor. Quinlan leaned toward this idea the most; he couldn't get the image of Skywalker at the head of a column of clones in the Temples out of his head. Team Moral Support was pretty neutral, but they were advocating blocking as much power as possible from the Chancellor because it seemed to be a majority opinion. It was at is point that Mace Windu walked in.

...

Obi-wan reflected that it sounded much like a bad joke. A Jedi master walks into a room full of time travelers... The punchline is that he has no clue they're time travelers.

"What is going on here?" Windu asks. Obi-wan supposed it looked odd, three Knights, a healer, a padawan, and two initiates having a war council around a tea table, and Mace doesn't know half of it. Luckily, Anakin's a quick thinker.

"We're studying, Master!' He says, brightly. Oh, well, at least he tried.

Windu, who well knew Anakin's complete disgust for book learning, is visibly skeptical. Ferus jumped in at that point.

"We needed to learn about healing, Master. So we asked Healer Bant to come over. We can't very well host studying in the initiate's quarters." Ferus is a bit more believable as the orchestrator of this whole mission, but he was still an Initiate without a great amount of trust behind his name, so Obi-wan picked up the thread of he conversation.

"While my padawan was planning this little meet-and-greet," he said, with great dignity,

"He forgot to inform me, and so I invited Knights Siri and Vos over for tea. Imagine my surprise when we find our living room already full!" He said dryly. Ahsoka, who has been sitting in Bant's lap for lack of space on the chairs, giggles. Windu raises his eyebrow at her.

"A little young to be studying medicine, correct?" He intones, but his voice is amused.

...

Ahsoka, for lack of remembering what she acted like at six, does her best imitation of the excitable young Bothan she had taken in as copilot.

"Am not! I am six!" She proudly proclaimed with an air of enthusiasm she seemed to remember from Kayli. Anakin and Ferus looked at each other, and sort of came to an agreement. Ferus was the one who turned to Windu.

"Master, she would not be persuaded not to come once she overheard us, so we decided she could be the 'patient' in our lessons."

Anakin cut in, making a great show of solemnity, "Obviously, a very important job."

Windu looked even more tolerantly amused.

"Well done, young ones. Obi-wan, the council would like to see you in two days about a mission. Bring your apprentice." With that, he bows and walks out.

...

Anakin and Ferus collapsed backwards.

"I don't think he's ever been that lenient toward me. Ever." Anakin muses. Windu, to him, always seemed like a stern taskmaster. It's perhaps not helped by the fact that he was a hellion in his younger years. Ferus snorts.

"He has a soft spot for cute younglings. You wouldn't believe what my friends could get away with then he was the once who caught them when we were younger." Anakin turns toward him interestedly. This was a story he had never heard.

"Really?" Ferus looked almost wicked for a second, and replied, "I was told stories of putting tooth powder in place of the sugar for the entire Bear Clan crèche and only getting away with a mild scolding." This time it was Siri who cut in, with a raised eyebrow.

...

"Really." Ferus made a sort of frozen face, like he forgot who he had been talking in front of. Siri just was curious, but she made sure to give an air of faint menace to her not-quite question. It never hurt to remind one's padawan that their master could make them scrub the Room of a Thousand Fountain's recirculating pool out with a toothbrush. Respect of the master keeps the younglings out of trouble. Ferus didn't have to look quite so frightened though. She supposed she would have to talk to him more later, when they were master and padawan again.

"Eh... It was secondhand stories only, masters."

...

Ferus had really done it this time. He was in the Jedi temple, with his Master right behind him; he couldn't be as relaxed as he was used to. His only consolation was that Anakin was right beside him, and was also wondering how to conform into a mold he had grown to tall to fit years ago. Ahsoka, the little traitor, was merely giggling at them again from Bant's lap. She didn't have to worry about not telling her master things; from what he understood, her master was involved in more trouble than she got into.

His Master and Obi-wan were still peering at them interestedly, so he made an abortive shrug.

"Crèche antics, masters. You can't tell me you didn't have any."

Anakin raised his eyebrow.

"I've been missing out." He said, somewhat playfully. Ahsoka just jumped off Bant's lap and tackled him again.

"You get into enough trouble as is, Master!" A wrestling match was almost underway when Quinlan looked up from a padd he had been using.

"Turn on the holonet." He said, "There's something interesting going on."

...

Quinlan honestly hadn't known what to expect when he had searched current news. He had just wanted to catch up on current events while the master and padawans were dancing around each other.

He was surfing the normal celebrity gossip and human interest articles when an article popped up suddenly entitled THE CLONE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. That raised all kinds of flags, so he clicked on it, and saw an article that shouldn't, by rights, exist. He scrolled through, shook himself all over to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, and read it again.

He let the rest know after that. They turned on the news to find a talking head commenting on the "plight of the clones" and what little the media knew about them.

"These brave young men are represented by no one and have no planet to call their own. We would not even know about them if it weren't for a pair of heroic renegades who sent out a message from their cloning facility, received only three hours ago." The talking head recited. Then the holo switched to a fuzzy transmission of two young boys.

"Hello Republic. I'm Cody, that's Rex. We're clones from the Planet Kamino. We are members of your army. Why'd you make us? You aren't at war yet. We're learning about the Senate. Why don't we have a representative? Why do we have chips in our heads? We can wait for your broadcast for a while, but please try to be quick, we'll get in trouble for this." The broadcast switched back to the taking head, and Siri turned it off.

Bant was the one to recover first.

"Well. What do you bet they remember?" She said, cheerfully.

...

Bant tried to block out her last memories of the clones, and told herself that it was the chips, and not the many and varied yet identical-looking men she had treated over the years. She remembered Obi-wan and Cody, how they complemented each other; she remembered Ahsoka and Anakin and Rex, and how they would bicker and play like family in downtime.

She remember Quinlan talking of his clone captain with the same tone he used for Obi-wan, saying he was too much a follower of rules. She remembered a thousand missions they came home safe on, thanks to identical faces. She remember those identical faces in he morgue, mishmash names scratched above their numbers on the ID tags...

And she forgives them for what they did. It is not the Jedi way to hold resentment; she must help.

Quinlan puts his arm over her shoulder and squeezes. Obi-wan smiles. Siri gives and encouraging look. The padawans sort of look hopeful. And the Jedi who remember pick up and move on.

"So. Who's up for a quick jaunt to Kamino?"

Cody looked over at Rex, barricaded with him into the transmission station on Kamino. "We probably could have thought this through better." He said. Rex shrugged.

"Or we could have missed the opportunity. It never pays to overthink things." Cody looked over.

"It's amazing. I see my brother Rex here, clear as day... But I'm hearing General Skywalker after a three-month stalemate. You've picked up a few too many traits from your superior officer, Vod." He raised his eyebrow and sniggered internally.

"Said the commander of dry insults himself! Ha! I hear General Kenobi speak with your mouth." Cody raised his other eyebrow, and made himself to appear as in deep thought.

"Let me see... Recklessness and impudence, or wisdom and wit? I know which one I'd choose." Rex tackled him and tried to get him in a headlock. This was rapidly devolving into the 'which general is better' argument, a much-feared on in the GAR barracks because it inevitably devolved into a wrestling contest. However, their manful struggle was interrupted by a knock at the door.

...

Rex and Cody sat up. The garbled yet melodious language of the Kaminoans filtered through, and the person on the other side knocked again. They looked at each other with a sort of fearful grimace.

"Well, it had to happen eventually." Cody said. He checked the barricade on the door again, and subtly shifted the chairs and table so that they would be even more immovable. He and Rex turned to inspect the comms room, a tiny twelve by twelve space with an attached fresher. Their bedding, stolen from the barracks, was tucked into a corner with what little earthly possessions they had; namely, their armor, their ID tags, Clash the action figure, and a small metal puzzle that was Rex's, won for being the best shot in his squad.

"You think the message was a little much?" Rex asked. It was the best they could come up with- they were soldiers, not thespians.

"It'll have to be." Said Cody. "The Jedi will come soon."

Rex didn't debate the point. He needed to believe that too.

They settled down to wait.

Notes:

You know Mace is a total softie for puppy dog eyes.

I imagine the 24-hour news cycle is even worse on Coruscant. From what little we've seen, it's pretty chaotic.

'Vod' means brother in Mandalorian.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you for your reviews, and sorry for the wait; I started working. Here's the next chapter!

...

Padmé was en route to Coruscaunt when Panaka beckoned her over to a small holoscreen in the wall, which showed a rather blurry video of Cody and Rex.

"Is this the clone army you spoke of?" He asked.

"Yes- they're Anakin and Obi-wan's officers." She murmured. They looked so young! So did she, but still.

"They remember, obviously." Panaka commented.

"Yes. They're good men. We should find a way to pick them up."

Panaka commed the cockpit.

"Typho, change course to the planet Kamino. The Queen is concerned about this army and wished to send aid."

You could hear the incredulity in Typho's voice when he replied.

"You want to take the queen to an unknown planet where cloners operate? Uncle, are you feeling alright?"

Padmé smirked into her hand as Panaka cleared his throat.

"Lieutenant Typho, understand you are on speaker. Please greet Her Majesty."

You could have heard a pin drop.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," Typho managed to get out after a couple seconds, "I did not mean to cause offense. However, you must understand that your safety is our highest priority. I feel uneasy taking you to such a place alone."

"Your concern is noted, Lieutenant, but I do have a plan." Panaka wryly interjected. "Set the course."

Padmé giggled at him. He raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"You don't have a plan, do you?" She asked.

"Of course I do. It involves asking for cloned handmaidens. They would make excellent decoys, don't you think?"

"Panaka!" She shrieked, scandalized.

"It's a ruse! I know Naboo's stance on being rights!" He held up his hands.

...

In the Kenobi-Skaywalker apartment, a furious planning session was in the works. The plans ranged from 'steal a fighter, get to Kamino, and go from there' (Anakin) to 'petition the Council for an investigation mission' (Obi-wan) to 'dress up like Kaminoan pleasure women and seduce them' (Quinlan). None of the plans were foolproof (especially Quinlan's), but they were honest efforts. Siri thought the planning session was going well, which should have been a sign that things were about to take a turn for the worst. The universe took this as a sign to let the door chime ring yet again.

"Goodness gracious." Obi-wan mentioned wryly. "I've gotten more visitors today than I have in years."

Anakin winced, then Obi-wan winced as well. They both smiled sheepishly, and Obi-wan got up to open the door. They seemed to be working through whatever was troubling them. However, what was outside the door brought in entirely new kinds of trouble. The forbidding face of Yoda stared up at him, with Mace Windu and Depa Billaba behind him looking mostly amused.

"Knight Kenobi, it has become clear to us that you have not been entirely honest about your purpose for this convocation."

This would not be good.

.

Quinlan frowned, then smiled, and then crossed his eyes. Might as well exercise all the muscles in his face while he was at it. The Council members paid him no mind (how rude!) and instead kept their attention on Obi-wan. That had to be remedied. He straightened up and took a deep breath to begin reciting the Constitution of the Republic (at a top volume, naturally) when he felt Bant's elbow strike his solar plexus. All his air whooshed out in a huff and he spent the next several seconds trying to regain some oxygen and keep up a manly appearance (that is, not choke or cough). When he regained his bearings (and his breath) the masters were waiting in silent expectancy for Obi-wan's reply. They weren't disappointed; It was classic Obi-wan.

"Why on earth would I lie to the Council, masters? I understand that such a large gathering is suspicious, but we can hardly be accused of plotting treason, sedition, or extraordinarily sticky pranks, can we?"

Mace got a funny look on his face and glanced side-eyed at Quinlan. He just grinned back. After all, sticky pranks were so last century. Sand was in now.

.

Bant was still a bit confused, and pitied Siri. She knew the least about the future, and the situations that the others spoke of. As it was, she herself was struggling a bit to keep up. It didn't help that the Council had decided to make a foray in, and even Obi-wan's vaunted negotiation skills couldn't keep them away from the truth for too long. She decided to break the ice.

"We time traveled, masters."

You could have heard a pin drop. Mace lost all expression on his face, and Depa Billaba raised her eyebrow. Yoda, however, looked satisfied. He gave a small cackle and turned to Mace.

"To expect this, I told you. Believe me, you did not. Trust the Force more, you should, hmm?"

Mace started to look like he'd swallowed a lemon.

"Yes, Master Yoda. You must admit that your vision did bear exceeding resemblance to a dream, though. Who would suspect time travel?" Yoda shook his gimer stick at him, and then turned and whacked Anakin with it, almost hitting Obi-wan with the blow. Then, he turned and did the same to Ferus, and then Quinlan. Bruised ankles were becoming epidemic in the apartment.

"To the dark side, you fell! A most unwise decision, that was! Do better this time, you will!" He scolded. The three mentioned looked embarrassed and replied, more or less in union, with the required rote apology.

"Yes, Master."

Bant winced. She had been whacked a couple times herself. It wasn't pleasant. She contemplated going to the kitchen for ice, but decided that there was simply too many people in he apartment. Ferus had given up standing on the ground and had climbed onto Siri's shoulders, and there still was no room to turn around in the tiny living room.

.

Ferus was getting tired of being shoved. Even on his Master's shoulders, he felt the mass of people in the very small room oppressively. Perhaps because of his instincts during the Clone War and later the Rebellion, but so many people in one place was starting to make him paranoid. There is no better target than a room packed full of generals. He noticed Knight Vos climb a low bookshelf and sit on the top, before he was pulled back down by Bant. He then tried to put her on his shoulders, even though she was already carrying Ahsoka. He had almost accomplished the great leaning Tower of Jedi when the masters noticed, and Depa Billaba spoke for the first time.

"I suggest we adjourn to a larger room." She deadpanned, pointedly looking at Ahsoka clinging to Bant for dear life and desperately trying to not hit the ceiling. Ferus snickered in spite of himself. And these people were the last, best hope of the Galaxy.

.

Ahsoka was busy trying to keep from giving herself a concussion when Anakin waved to her to catch her attention. He had shifted to only one of Obi-wan's shoulders and patted the other, the one closer to her. She balanced on her admittedly precarious perch and leapt over to Obi-wan, who near buckled under the added strain. Evidently Anakin had forgotten to tell him the plan. He grabbed each of them by the back of their robes and swung them off his shoulders to glare playfully at him, which was possible because of the slow emptying of the room into the hall. He gently pushed them in front of him out the door, past the passerby goggling at the sheer number of people in that one small apartment (there were mutterings of a 'Kenobi clown speeder'). The Council members led them to a medium sized room, furnished with a large table and a fair amount of chairs, and overlooking the skyline of Coruscant. She sat on one of the chairs and looked around, and noticed that Obi-wan and Anakin were missing. She could have sworn they were right behind her.

.

Anakin and Obi-wan were not right behind Ahsoka. Or rather, they had been, but they had taken a left when she took a right and somehow ended up in the hangars. They expressed their bemusement to each other as they got into a conveniently located transport with no little weaponry, commed the Temple spacecraft control, and took off. They continued to bemoan their mystification until halfway out of the atmosphere, where they just couldn't stop themselves from laughing any longer. Anakin had missed this- though he could personally do without being stuck in the body of an eleven year old.

"Obi-wan? How long do you think it will take to get back to where we were before?" This was veering into dangerous, emotional territory, so perhaps said Jedi could be excused for dodging the true question.

"Thirty years, give or take."

Anakin near face faulted, but he had learned through painful experience that flying was an activity that required all of one's attention. His men had set up a "Screechin' Skywalker Landings Kit" including treatments for concussion, whiplash, and even a couple neck braces. He had not been amused.

"You know what I mean, master." This was too important to let slip away into the void.

.

Anakin always did pick the worst times for emotional conversations, Obi-wan recalled. It must be a quirk of his. He just wish he didn't do it so much while he was flying- it's bad enough without pouring out one's soul on top of it.

"I'm not sure it's possible Anakin. I'll still be able to talk to you and fight alongside you, obviously, and eventually I will start trusting you again, but I'm not sure if we'll ever be the same."

"I don't think so either. I'd just settle for something similar."

"Optimistic, for a Sith Lord."

"Pessimistic, for a Jedi." The conversation was delving into an uncomfortable vein, so Obi-wan changed subjects.

"We're in the Kamino system. Coming out of hyperspace... Now." The familiar jolt of real space accompanied the visual of Kamino, as stormy as ever, and...

"It that the Royal Nubian craft!?"

"Oh. Right. Did I forget to mention Padmé remembers too?" Anakin somewhat sheepishly answered.

...

Cody had almost fallen asleep to the steady thumping of the astromech droid the Kaminonans had reprogrammed into a battering ram when a new and familiar sound came to his ears.

"Rex, is that what I think it is?" He nudged his brother. Rex, who had already drifted off, half sat up and listened. However, he then lay back down again.

"Go to sleep, Cody. It's just the generals arguing again." He mumbled. Rex was evidently less awake than he appeared. Cody just rolled his eyes and shook him again.

"Rex, vod, wake up more and analyze that statement you just made." Rex protested, but eventually woke up more fully.

"I still don't understand why the generals arguing merits this much attention. It's not that uncommon... Oh. Oh!" Rex, poor kid, finally got it.

"We better get in our armor!" Cody exhorted his friend. They suited up in less than thirty seconds, and packed away their respective trinkets. They aimed the blasters at the door and waited for whatever was on the other side to show themselves.

.

Rex needed a cup of caf. Badly. He rubbed his eyes a final time before putting on his helmet, newly painted with the jag eyes, on. The thumping stopped to the sound of a lightsaber. Cody hit the door switch, and it whooshed open to reveal the generals bickering over the melted remains of the unfortunate astromech.

Both he and Cody saluted.

"Sirs!" They barked. Protocol, while not very useful in this situation, needed to be followed.

"At ease." Obi-wan told them. They both relaxed, but still remained wary. The generals' sabers were still out, and they might feel some resentment over Order 66.

General Kenobi noticed their scrutiny and looked sad. He put away his saber and motioned for General Skywalker to do the same.

"We don't blame you." He murmured. General Skywalker looked guilty for some reason, but an explosion interrupted them before they were able to talk more.

"So much for diplomatic negotiation." Obi-wan murmured. They began running through the maze of corridors towards the docking pad, joining up with two dark men and a strange painted woman- was that Senator Amidala?!- hurtling towards two vessels, a peacetime Jedi transport and a Nubian Royal vessel. The cruiser took a hit from the dock guns and exploded, but the Royal Cruiser's superior shields protected it well. They leapt in and took off, barely ahead of the Kaminoan fleet.

"So." Rex cut in.

"I have a feeling we missed something."

...

Notes:

In canon, Typho is Panaka's nephew; I figured he's also one of his most trusted men.

I figure the Nubian vessel has really really good shields, like the reinforced cars that dignitaries ride in IRL. In Episode II, someone went to great effort to blow it up from the inside instead of, say, planting several dozen thermal detonators on the launch pad.


End file.
